Almost Tuscan

We ate the best chicken last night!

Maybe I'm waxing hyperbolic because I enjoyed so much the change from good old roast chicken, but it really was exceptional, if I do say so myself.

As I often do, I browsed the interwebs for a way to use a can of Navy beans that I had on hand, a can of Southwest style tomatoes with chiles that our Cora-sitter left behind, and some leftover Massa rice. It was cold and rainy (again! still!) and I really wanted to do something with my chicken that would incorporate the warmth and color of those tomatoes.

I almost had the ingredients for Tuscan Chicken, but no fennel/anise in the house - and Tuscan cuisine doesn't usually include chilis - but that's the fun of cooking, isn't it? The freedom to dump in whatever you have on hand and see if you like it.

We loved it! We loved it so much that we ate sparingly, hoping there would be enough left to share with our house guest, who is supposed to arrive today, weather and her health allowing.

So, it was almost Tuscan, but not quite. The beans and rice were there and I used tarragon, hoping for a hint of licorice, but the smoked paprika and chiles definitely veered the dish into a spicier direction and the sausages were not Italian. The tomatoes were warming to the soul and the eye. The gentle spiciness warmed our rain-soaked hearts. No wonder we were extravagant in our praise.

Anyway, try it yourself and see what you think.

Almost Tuscan Chicken

2 Tablespoons bacon fat

1 Tablespoon canola oil

1 chicken, cut into serving-size pieces (I left out the back and used that to make stock)

1 large onion, cut in half and sliced into lengthwise wedges

3 large shallots, peeled and chunked

15 ounce can of Navy beans, drained

10 ounce can of Southwest style diced tomatoes with green chiles

Generous sprinklings of pepper, dried tarragon and smoked paprika

1 cup leftover brown rice

3 chicken apple sausages, cut into 1" chunks

Chicken broth as needed

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In the mixture of oils in a wide frying pan, brown the chicken pieces until richly golden-brown. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix the rice, beans, tomatoes together. Set aside. In the same frying pan used to brown the chicken, toss the sausages to brown lightly, then add the onions and shallots and toss over medium high heat to coat with the pan juices and to cook just a little. Season with paprika, tarragon and pepper. Add the beans/rice/tomato mixture and mix, scraping up any chickeny bits from the bottom. Pour into a large baking pan and place the browned chicken pieces on top. If there is little moisture in the bottom of the pan, add a splash of chicken broth.

Bake in the 375 degree oven until the chicken is done, perhaps 30-40 minutes (depends on how browned you got the chicken). Serve the chicken on a bed of the bean mixture with some good bread to mop up the incredible goozle.

Rice Chix

I was tempted to title this blog post "Chicken Little." While we were out in West Marin the other day, we stopped at Marin Sun Farms to buy eggs and I came away with a nice little chicken, too. It was slightly larger than a poussin, but a very young yardbird, indeed.

Today, I turned it into dinner.

I had been thinking about not roasting another chicken; have I finally gotten my fill? For the moment, it would seem so.

I had made some chicken stock from the bones of the last chicken I roasted and got busy doing something else so it cooked a long, long time before I strained out the bones and chilled it to remove the fat. It was so concentrated that it jelled in the fridge - future chicken goodness.

I had four leeks in the fridge that were crying out to be made into something. It's one of the good things about leeks - they will keep in the fridge for quite some time, until your creative juices have the leisure to come up with a good idea for dinner.

And because I had a hankering for some of that sublime Massa brown rice, I was mulling over ideas to incorporate those ingredients in some sort of skillet dinner. If I may say so, I succeeded big time.

First, I cut up the chicken into serving-size pieces. Did you know that if you cut up your own chickens, you save a significant amount of moolah over buying already-pieced chickens? It's not difficult and takes just a few more minutes with a good sharp knife.

Anyway, I browned the pieces, skin side down, in a mixture of olive oil and butter until they took on a golden hue, removed them from the pan and dumped in the rice, which I tossed to coat with the butter/oil/chicken drippings in the pan, cooking it for a few minutes until some of the grains turned opaque, then added the chicken broth and a heaping tablespoon each of two kinds of Dijon mustard, the brown one with whole mustard seeds and the smooth yellow one.

Once the mustards were swirled into the chicken stock and rice mixture, I added the sliced leeks and eased the chicken pieces down into this mustardy hot tub, clapped on the lid and lowered the flame to simmer.

Massa rice takes almost an hour to cook so we decorated our Christmas tree to keep ourselves busy while that pan of chicken sent out the most tantalizing smells. We hung the ornaments one by one, remembering the source of each one, awash in memories while the chicken steeped in mustardy broth. The little black and yellow bee with spun glass wings that we found in Antwerp when we were in Belgium for Christmas. The ratty old glass balls that came out of my parents' attic when they passed away. The funny star My Beloved's girls made for us when we shared a Christmas in Hawaii. The Santa lovingly hand-painted by my nephew when he was a little boy about the age of his daughters now. The clothespin toy soldiers my first mother-in-law made during her crafty stage. The beautifully handmade ornament my brother's wife bought for us in Vienna. Each one has a memory attached.

We plugged in the colorful lights, plated our killer dinner and enjoyed the tree while we sampled our Rice Chix. The rice had absorbed all the flavors of the pot while lending its own nutty goodness. The chicken and the leeks had relaxed like guests at a friendly Christmas party. It was so good, we were tempted to have seconds, although we are trying not to add to our avoirdupois over the holidays. We restrained ourselves, just barely. My Beloved suggested that next time I should add some mushrooms and I think he's right, but it was deeply satisfying just as it was.

Rice Chix

1 small organic, pastured chicken, cut into serving size pieces

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoon butter

1 cup organic brown rice, preferably Massa rice

2 cups chicken broth

1 heaping Tablespoon brown Dijon mustard with whole mustard seeds

1 heaping Tablespoon smooth Dijon mustard

4 leeks, washed and chopped

* 1 dozen mushrooms, rinsed, patted dry and cut into quarters

In a wide, shallow skillet, brown the chicken pieces thoroughly in the butter and oil mixture over a medium flame. Remove chicken to a plate while you scatter the rice into the chicken goozle in the pan. Cook until about half the rice grains have turned opaque.

Add the chicken stock and the two mustards, mixing until well incorporated. Add the chopped leeks. Nestle the chicken pieces back into the pan, cover and reduce the heat to simmer for about an hour. It will be a little soupier than risotto. Plate with the rice underneath the golden brown chicken pieces - it would look great served on a big, deep platter at a family dinner, allowing everyone to serve themselves.

*If you use the mushrooms, I'd brown them before the chicken, then set them aside while you brown the chicken in the same pan, then set that aside and so on.

Rubber Chicken

When Cookiecrumb wrote about the chicken terrine she made from Ms Mouse's mother's recipe, I wanted immediately to try it. It just sounded lovely, nothing but happily roasted chicken and goozle, pressed into a mold, then sliced and served.

So, I roasted, picked, goozled, pressed and chilled as instructed. I stuffed some onion, celery and lemon into the roasting chicken for additional flavor but otherwise followed the simple directions to a T.

Well, I admit to an intermediate step - we ate some of the chicken for dinner first, then made the terrine with the leftovers. I noticed the first serving of the chicken was a bit tough, as one sometimes gets with truly pastured birds, but tasty, very tasty.

In a terrine, however, this was rubber chicken. I suppose that layering the meat in more than one direction didn't help but, holy cow, it was nearly impossible to slice! So, now I'm wondering if anyone out there can advise me on how to choose a chicken when you want a tender one?

I don't want to return to flabby chickens raised indoors or with limited outdoor access but I do want chickens that don't require a steak knife to cut them. This chicken, for all its flavor, would have been better in a Coq au Vin recipe where it simmered in sauce for a long time.

So, help me out here - what are the signs of a chicken that is still tender? Are there things to look for that indicate toughness? Or shall I just give up on the idea of chicken terrine that doesn't cut like rubber?

Clucking

Now, don't get me wrong - I love chicken - but sometimes I think if I have another roasted chicken, I'll start clucking. Growing feathers. Laying eggs. Eating bugs.

Clearly, I needed a change of pace from my usual oven-roasted bird. Luckily, we've been blessed with great barbecuing weather recently and, when I was cleaning out the garage, I noticed that we still have a few cedar planks left from the huge bundle we bought years ago.

Planked chicken. Perfect! It needed nothing more than a light bath in olive oil and a couple of planks underneath over gray coals with red centers. Fifty minutes later, I lifted it off the now-charred plank, plunked it on a cutting board and called My Beloved to dinner.

If you've never tried planking, this is your year! Go here for some basic instructions. It's truly a great way to cook any number of delicious meats on the grill. Whatever you plank will have a distinctly smoky flavor and retain its moisture. A bonus - no oven to clean - just toss the planks and dust off your hands. And no need to worry about pecking order.

Strategic Planning

One of the reasons I most love roast chicken is that it makes more than one meal. We enjoy the hot bird fresh from the oven but then my strategy is to make it stretch to several meals.

As case in point, our lumpy chicken from a few nights ago.

The next day for lunch, we had a version of fried rice with chicken bits, leftover rice and a bunch of colorful veggies, simply chopped and fried quick and hot in a combination of butter and canola oil - first the carrots, celery and onion, then the fresh peas, followed by adding the rice to heat, then the meat bits to warm (I also had a single slice of pastrami that I minced and threw in) and finally some green onion before turning it all out onto our plates. I could have added an egg, but it was protein-rich enough as it was. Very tasty and quick.

That night, My Beloved ate a plateful of cold, garlicky chicken with peas while I was out with pal Sari watching Iron Man, a movie he declined in favor of watching a Formula One race on TV.

The rest of the chicken will go into curry to give us yet another delicious dinner and a lunch the next day.

I could even have made the bones into stock but I have a freezer full right now, so I decided that this particular chicken had done her duty. She was buried with honors.

Lumpy Chicken

Don't be alarmed - this chicken started out as a very nice, fresh, young, free-range chicken. The fact that it ended up reminding us of an aging and lumpy slattern who had seen better days didn't detract at all from the wonderful taste.

It's all the fault of the green garlic I found at this week's farmer's market. Trying to think of something different to do with our weekly roast chicken, I hatched the idea of sliding quarters of green garlic under the skin of the breast and thighs to flavor the meat as it roasted; it made the chicken look comically lumpy. I also olive oiled the skin, sprinkled it with lemon juice and tucked the rest of the lemon into the cavity along with a handful of fresh dill. Sprinkled some of the dill over the skin, too, and slid the whole thing into a 375 degree oven for about an hour.

As the bird roasted, the green garlic softened and spread divinely over the whole breast in little pockets of crisp skin over meltingly soft garlic underneath. The flavor was milder than "adult" garlic but still wonderfully savory and lingering. The lemon wafted up to keep the meat moist and lent its own little tang.

My Beloved and I have been trying to control our portion sizes recently - after all, we have a family wedding coming up out in the future and we want to look our best - but we failed miserably with this chicken. We went back without compunction for seconds and were still picking little pieces off the platter as we washed the dishes. Pretty is as pretty does - it can be as lumpy as it wants when it tastes this good.

Mexican Melange

I'm not sure what you'd call this but it was delicious. I had some pinto beans already cooked and waiting in the freezer so I busted them out as the foundation for a Mexican soft taco/burrito/sort of thing to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo may not be a huge deal in Mexico (contrary to popular belief, it is not Mexican Independence Day) but up here in Alta California, we relish a chance to celebrate just about anything.

Here's what else went into our quickly heated whole wheat tortillas, clockwise from the top:

-shredded leftover garlic roasted chicken
-minced red onion
-sliced red and yellow sweet peppers
-chopped green onion
-guacamole (I made it with ripe avocado, diced tomato, minced red onion and two dashes of hot pepper sauce, all smooshed together)
-shredded Romaine lettuce
-pinto beans, previously long-simmered and thawed
-Old World Portuguese cheese

I just put it all out on a board and My Beloved and I built our tacos according to our preferences. The guacamole was a little too fiery (that hot sauce is potent!) by itself but tucked into the tortillas with the rest of the fairly bland ingredients and alternated with sips of beer, it was perfect. It left me with softly burning lips, just the way I like it.

We owe a lot to our neighbors to the south, whether from Mexico or even further south. Not only do they offer a delicious and inventive cuisine, in California they are often the people who grew, weeded and picked the food for us as well, doing backbreaking jobs for very low wages. It's the immigrants' story in this country, whether we came from Ireland or Italy or China or wherever. We start small and work our way up. Our labor, our foods, our customs and our languages enrich this nation with each new wave. Hear me, Arizona?

Stuff and Nonsense

We roast a chicken once a week, more or less. We love roast chicken. The thin, crispy skin, the juicy meat, the veggies we roast alongside, the fact that we can roast once and eat thrice (and four times, if I make soup from the bones) - what's not to like?

Is this where I admit that it's possible to get a little tired of roast chicken with lemon juice and herbes de Provence? Our usual favorite just didn't have the same appeal.

I thought about taking a chicken break but we do love chicken and I was also tired of all the red meats we enjoyed during the holidays. Nonsense, I thought, I'll just change it up a bit, stuffing my bird for a little variety and I'll see if that wakes up the old appetite. Turns out I made such a dreamy winter stuffing that I thought I'd share it with you.

First, I sautéed about three tablespoons of diced pancetta in a wide frying pan. Once the fat was rendered a bit, I added a coarse dice of kabocha squash and let that cook a bit while I minced a big clove of garlic and chopped a quarter of a large onion. Into the pan they went with about 3/4 of a peeled Golden Delicious apple, also chopped coarsely. When the onion was translucent, it all got packed into the body of a pretty large chicken and popped into a 350 degree oven for an hour. Served alongside the chicken and some bright green broccoli, it was a simple but heavenly winter dinner, warm with color and flavor and a nice twist to an old favorite.

Neighbor Favors

How often does one have a neighbor call and say, "Can you do me a favor? Come over right now and let me give you three different kinds of meats." It was unprecedented in my experience, I can tell you.

My neighbor Theresa had discovered, on the very eve of a business trip to Amsterdam, that her big freezer had quit and all her carefully divided and vacuum-sealed meats had thawed. She was calling all the neighbors to offer them packages of viands - I scored marinated chicken thighs, beef short ribs and duck legs. I needed to cook them all in a single day as they wouldn't re-freeze happily, so I got to work the next morning in a flurry of culinary energy and made cassoulet with the duck legs and braised beef stew in the crock pot with the short ribs. More about those later; this evening, we enjoyed the marinated chicken thighs.

When I asked Theresa what the marinade was she couldn't remember, so it was a mystery as I cut open the package. One sniff told me garlic and soy sauce, maybe a sort of teriyaki? Theresa recommended baking at 400 degrees, so that's what I did, first nestling alongside the chicken some slices of bright orange kabocha squash and halves of ruby red potatoes. It made a beautiful fall color palette as it slid into the oven.

The chicken and veggies emerged about 40 minutes later, all browned on the bottoms, soft in the middle and ready to eat. The sauce wasn't really teriyaki, as there wasn't any ginger or sweetness, but it was garlicky, mildly salty and delicious - we enjoyed every bite.

While I wouldn't wish such a dilemma on anyone, I stand ready to do such favors for any of my neighbors who are in a bind in the future. It's what good neighbors do, right?

Bummer Chicken

Well, phooey! I'm still bummed about my broken glass plate and have been boycotting the kitchen since that disaster. I did venture out to the barbecue and grill this demure little butterflied chicken, but mostly I've just been pouting.

I cooked the chicken using indirect heat, heaping the coals to one side of the trusty Weber and placing the chicken on the other side until the last turn, when I wanted to crisp and brown it a bit. It was basted once or twice with some bottled balsamic vinaigrette dressing to which I added a splash more vinegar and a big pinch of dried mixed herbs. The method worked well - the chicken was moist and flavorful - but it took quite a bit longer than the more direct heat. I'd recommend it if I was wasn't still pouting.

Chocolate Burrito?

True to their name, my burrito at Cafe Cacao had a little chocolate in it. Makes sense, as it's in the Scharrfen Berger chocolate factory in Emeryville.

My chicken burrito was amply stuffed with big chicken pieces, wrapped in a spinach tortilla, topped with avocado, rocket and green beans, and sprinkled with a little dry cheese. But, best of all was the mole-style sauce that was poured over it, rendering it juicy, flavorful and tasting of chocolate, chilis and something else indefinably Mexican.

Nice. Fresh. And what's not to like about chocolate for brunch?

Dux Redux

After making the Sauce Duxelles for our steak, I had about half a cup of duxelles left, so I decided to use it in a roast chicken - they didn't have a Cornish hen at my market that day, darn it! The leftovers would have been the perfect amount for a Cornish hen.

Oh, well. After rinsing and drying the chicken, I gently loosened the skin over the breast and patted the duxelles into place over the breast meat. If I'd had a bit more, I'd have done the legs, too.

Hawaiian red salt, freshly ground pepper, olive oil baste, lemon cut in half, squeezed over the top, tucked inside, roast in a 350 oven for an hour, baste twice, rest on the cutting board, yadda yadda.

Sliced with a hint of crispy skin and a layer of duxelles, the breast meat was out of this world, truly an explosion of rich mushroomy/oniony/chickeny flavor concentrated by the oven.

Christmas Child

Not having children of my own, I had to borrow some for previous Christmases, notably my Fairy Godchildren, Mark and Louis. Their mother was always generous with sharing them as they grew up, but this year they were both in Michigan with her, a sweet surprise for their parents as they are both adult and independent now.

This year, we've had the joy of sharing Christmas with a nearly-two-year old, our granddaughter, Mia. This picture tells it all - she's into the rip-and-tear school of present opening, enthusiastically shredding her way through Christmas wrap and tissue paper. My Dad would have approved, being a kid at heart and a devotee of that school himself; he could unwrap a small mountain of gifts in short order. And being nearly two, she is far more interested in the wrappings than she is in what's inside; I trust that will change with age.

She has been the bright spot this Christmas. She came over for dinner the day after Christmas and kept us lively, every five minutes or so, trying to anticipate which new way she'd find to kill herself. If she wasn't headed for the top of the stairs at a dead run, she was marching into the kitchen to seek out the hot things, or searching the house for all the lethal edges we keep unknowingly within her reach. And, she giggles as she goes!

I made an ultra-simple dinner, shrimp cocktail for starters and chicken with fingerling potatoes roasted in the same pan for dinner. The only difference was that I substituted a mandarin orange for my usual lemon squeezed over the top and tucked inside, and sprinkled it with Hawaiian Red Salt (a gift from Mia's parents and aunt) as well as Herbes de Provence before roasting. When little kids are at the table trying out their first real silverware, it's not really about the food, is it?

Wanna know the best part? Mia loves me. She mimics my greeting of "Hi, Sweetie Pie" with her own version, "Hi, PeaPie!" and runs to give me hugs and kisses. She melts my crusty old heart.

Early Bird

You wouldn't know it now as the weather took a quick turn to the autumn yesterday, but here in NOCA, as my Navy brother calls it, we were having summery weather although it's nearly Hallowe'en. I'm not complaining, mind you - I was enjoying the warmth and sunshine!

On the other hand, roast chicken seems like something I'd rather not do when the afternoon temperature hovers around 85 or even 90 with scant breeze - too hot for the oven. So, I decided to plank a whole chicken early in the morning before the heat built and serve it cold for dinner.

After washing the bird, I stuffed it with a halved lemon, trussed it so it wouldn't hang out over the plank and positioned it on my widest untreated cedar shingle with the dark meat toward the thin end of the plank so it would get more heat than the white meat. I put in lots of charcoal, as the bird needs to cook for almost an hour at about 300 degrees (our Weber grill has a built-in thermometer). When the coals were well started, I dropped the plank onto the grill and closed the cover.

Look how beautifully it turned out! It was moist with perfectly done dark and white meat, a deeply smoky flavor right down to the bone and a just a sneak of lemon curling through the smoke. This early bird is a great solution to hot weather meals.

Jamie's Chicken Caesar

In case you missed the Jamie at Home show where he made this dish, I wanted to bring it to your attention. It is one of the three or four most delicious things we ate this summer.

It's the best Chicken Caesar salad you are likely to find.

Start by tearing up bread into bite-size chunks (Jamie used ciabatta - we've used leftover sourdough baguette), enough to cover the bottom of a roasting pan. Lay a single layer of whole chicken legs with thighs attached, skin side up, over the bread pieces. Lay strips of bacon across the legs and slide the whole thing into a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the thickest part of the thighs are pierced, the juice should run clear.

While the chicken and bread are roasting, prepare a Caesar dressing and wash the light green Romaine lettuce leaves. I deleted the show by mistake before I could write down his dressing so I made one from (my sometimes very faulty) memory. I crushed one big clove of garlic and mashed up one small anchovy with the back of a spoon (you can use a small sardine in lieu of the anchovy if you truly hate anchovies) mixing them in a small bowl until the garlic and anchovy are one rather divinely smelly paste. I added the juice of one half a large lemon and about a tablespoon of mayo, mixing all together. This makes about the right amount for two plates of the salad.

When the chicken comes out and is still hot, separate the meat from the bones. Dress the plate by adding a layer of the (now crunchy and deliciously chicken-y) bread, then a layer of chicken meat, then the salad on top, tossed with the dressing before mounding. Sometimes the bacon gets too well done to enjoy but if it's still good, you can crumble it over the salad or simply lay the strips on top. Grate a little good aged Parmesan cheese over the whole lovely pile and you've got a meal fit for the proverbial king - or emperor!

He Loves Me!, Part One

At the risk of being scorned like poor Sally Field, who took such a drubbing from the press for her remark upon receiving her Academy Award, I'll paraphrase her by saying, "My Beloved loves me! He really loves me!"

I know this because he orders bacon to be delivered to me when he's out of town on business. Sometimes he sends flowers, too, but this time it was cob-smoked bacon from Dakin Farm. Vermont bacon. Is it any wonder the guy makes me feel swoony?

Two packets of this bacon arrived on our doorstep this past week, packed into a box with another surprise, about which I will write tomorrow.

This bacon is deeply smoky and lightly salty. I used some of it to make Jamie Oliver's chicken Caesar salad, the one with chicken legs roasted over torn up bread and topped with his Caesar salad. The bacon was so smoky that its flavor invaded the chicken and improved what I thought was a virtually perfect dish.

I made it for My Beloved's homecoming - to show him that I'm nuts about him, too!

Pocket Lunch

I'm continually surprised by how delicious lunch can be when scrounged out of stuff we already have in the house. I was feeling lazy and didn't want to go out shopping one day this week - but I managed to salvage a lunch and a dinner out of leftovers and ingredients already in the fridge.

These pita sandwiches are a good case in point. I had the pitas on hand and a leftover half a chicken from dinner the night before. I cubed about a cup of the chicken, added chopped broccoli and peeled, seeded, cubed cucumber, mixing them with a sauce made of a dab of mayo, the juice from half a lemon, a splash of milk and heaping tablespoon of curry powder.* Stuffed the chicken mixture into the pita pockets and it was a lovely lunch, easy to make and I didn't even have to leave the kitchen, much less the house!

*If you're making something similar, start with less curry powder and taste - different brands vary in strength and this one might be too spicy for some people.

Coq au Riesling

Love that coq au vin! Especially the recipe that Julia Child put into her classic, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," but making it is a bit of a hassle requiring three pans so when I saw this recipe for Coq au Riesling that could all be accomplished in a single skillet, I jumped at it.

One change I made to the basic recipe is that, when it suggests removing and discarding the skin after browning, I knew that no self-respecting French housewife would waste perfectly good chicken skin so I made cracklings from it as Jacques Pepin had taught me years ago, by laying the skin in a pan and baking it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. It came out crisp and most of the fat was rendered; I broke it into little pieces as garnish for the chicken (that's one of the pieces at the top of the dish, bathed in evening sunlight) and added some chopped green onion for color. The cracklings made a nice texture surprise in an otherwise soft dish.

My other deviation from the recipe was to use two slices of chopped bacon instead of pancetta (didn't have any pancetta on hand), so I omitted the butter and, even then, I took out several tablespoons of rendered fat before sauteeing the aromatics and adding the cream. It's still a very rich dish, even with the wine added to deglaze the pan.

It's a lovely Alsatian variation on the chicken-and-wine theme; My Beloved remarked on how good the house smelled while it was cooking as well as how delicious it tasted. Big success!

Coq au Riesling

1/2 cup chopped sweet onion (I used more)
1-2 cloves garlic (next time, I'd use more)
6 mushrooms, sliced thickly (next time, I'd use more)
1 oz. pancetta (I substituted 2 rashers of bacon, chopped)
2 Tbs. butter (I omitted this and still had to remove some of the rendered fat)
4-6 chicken thighs, or mixed parts (I used all thighs)
Salt, Pepper to taste
1/2 cup good-quality Riesling
1/4 cup heavy cream
Nutmeg to taste (grated)

Melt the butter (or saute' the bacon) over medium-high heat in a large skillet until it renders its fat and browns. Add the chicken pieces, skin side down, browning well on both sides, 2-3 minutes per side, and remove them to a warm plate. Remove the skin if you wish to save a few calories; it won't be crunchy in this procedure (this is the point at which I baked it to make cracklings).

In the butter (or bacon fat - remember to remove most of the fat if you use bacon) and chicken fat remaining in the skillet, cook the chopped onion and minced garlic until translucent and aromatic, add the mushrooms and saute' until soft. Salt and pepper to taste.

Pour in the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom. Return the chicken to the pan with any accumulated juices, then pour in the cream. Bring back to a simmer, reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Uncover, increase heat to medium low so the sauce bubbles gently, and cook for a few more minutes until it reduces and thickens a little.. Grate a bit of nutmeg, check seasonings and serve. I served over noodles and we had a glass of the leftover Riesling with dinner.

Drunk Chicken

Having half of a Marin Sun Farms chicken in the freezer is inspirational - I can spend the whole day while it is thawing thinking about what I might do with it.

This time, I remembered an old, old recipe that I came up with 'way back when God was a child. Drunk Chicken. It's easy and quick and always good although the "recipe" varies a bit.

I cut up the chicken in serving size pieces, brown it thoroughly in a pan, then add slivered onions, mushrooms, a can of squished tomatoes (if they don't come squished, I squish them with my hands) and the juice from the can, whatever herbs I'm in the mood for, usually thyme, a bay leaf and wine of any kind. This night, I added the last cup of a nice but unremarkable red wine we had tried for dinner a few nights before.

While all that stews together for about 20 minutes, I cook pasta or rice and prepare the veg. It all goes together in about half an hour and it always goes down easily, especially if you serve the rest of the wine alongside.

Cheers!

Laid Back Chicken

One of these soft nearly-summer evenings, My Beloved and I were more in the mood for kicking back on the sofa with a glass of iced tea than for cooking, so we took the lazy man's (and woman's!) route to a delicious dinner, planking.

We loved planked food, both fish and poultry. It couldn't be easier and the results are reliably smoky, moist and scrumptious.

You can purchase thick planks from the chi-chi poo-poo cooking stores, four for about 20 bucks and, in theory, they are re-usable. We prefer the lumber store method where you can purchase virtually a lifetime supply of thin, untreated cedar shingles for about $30. They are not re-usable, but I think of that as one of their virtues - no washing, no fussing, just pitch 'em after they have delivered up their smoky essence to your delectation! If you decide to use the lumber store method, however, make doubly sure they are untreated cedar as you don't want fire retardant in your food.

I had a nice free-range, organic chicken in the fridge so all I did was wash the plank and the chicken in cold water, arrange said chicken on said plank, lay the plank on the grill over the white ash coals in our Weber grill, put on the cover and go chill on the sofa for an hour.

I guess we could have basted it or checked on it but we didn't - we just spent that hour chatting and relaxing. At the end of the hour, we took the chicken off the fire and let it "rest" for about 10 minutes before slicing while I steamed some greenie beanies to go alongside. The result was deeply smoky and juicy, even the white meat, and the skin was delightfully crisp and crackly. The perfect dinner for a lazy nearly-summer evening.